QMI Agency

Pittsburgh Penguins winger Tanner Glass didn't back away from comments he made against an in-state rival earlier this week.

Prior to Wednesday night’s game against the visiting Philadelphia Flyers, Glass reiterated his pick for dirtiest player in the NHL.

“For being a guy who is known as a skill guy, an offensive player, if you look back at some of (Danny Briere’s) clips, his play in the past … there’s some dirty plays,” Glass told the South Jersey Courier-Post. “He’ll give you a stick in the ...”

We’ll let you fill in the blank.

When asked if there’s any history between the two, Glass couldn’t point to anything in particular.

“I've just seen his clips,” he said. “Played against him in the past. Nothing more than that.”

The pointed questions follow comments Glass offered up to Pittsburgh radio station 970 ESPN on Tuesday, when he labelled the Flyer in question as a “shifty character”.

“I think he’s one of the dirtiest players in the league, to be honest,” Glass said of Briere. “He’s undercover dirty.

“Go back on his resume, things he’s been penalized for and suspensions and things like that, and you’d be surprised how many things you’d find on him.”

For the record, the NHL has suspended Briere three times, totalling seven games for various on-ice infractions.

It was one of the “worst hockey games” New York Rangers head coach John Tortorella has been a part of in close to 25 years of coaching.

To be crystal clear: “Just two bad teams playing and we were worse than they were,” Tortorella told ESPN following New York’s 3-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens Tuesday night.

His goaltender, Henrik Lundqvist, characterized Montreal’s decision to sit in and clog things up as boring, but effective, allowing the Habs to walk away with their fifth straight win after scoring three goals on just 18 shots.

The two sides combined for just eight shots during an uneventful opening period, which saw the Canadiens capitalize late off the mistake they waited all game for.

“Throughout the game we kept telling ourselves to be patient with it, get pucks in deep,” Rangers captain Ryan Callahan said. “We tried to focus on not turning the puck over. The whole game it looked like we were going to do that and be the better of the two teams.”

DUCKS EXTEND FASTH

The Anaheim Ducks took would-be unrestricted free agent Viktor Fasth off the market on Wednesday, signing the Swedish goalie through the 2014-15 NHL season.

Fasth has garnered a perfect 8-0-0 record since making his first NHL start on Jan. 26, posting a 1.78 GAA.

The Orange County Register reported Fasth is set to earn $5.8 million over the term of the deal.

Formerly of the Swedish Elite League’s AIK, the 30-year-old agreed to a one-year deal to be Jonas Hiller’s understudy this season, but has since overtaken his Swiss teammate.

"Viktor has proven himself not only this year in the NHL, but the previous two seasons as the top goaltender in Sweden," Ducks executive Bob Murray said in a team statement. "We are pleased to be able to keep him and feel fortunate to have two top NHL goaltenders going forward."

Should he win his next start, Hiller will tie Ray Emery’s record for most consecutive wins to start an NHL goalie’s career.

BRIEFLY: Detroit Red Wings forward Mikael Samuelsson will miss at least two weeks after suffering a broken finger on his left hand in practice. Samuelsson, 36, was hit by a puck during the Wings’ morning skate in Nashville on Tuesday … The Chicago Blackhawks-Vancouver Canucks game set a ratings record Tuesday night. CSN Chicago reported 258,224 households tuned in for the entire game while more than 380,000 viewers tuned in for at least a part of the game. After dispatching the Canucks in a shootout, the ‘Hawks (13-0-3) are a game away from breaking the record for most consecutive games with a point to start a season … Carolina Hurricanes forward Jeff Skinner is being listed as day-to-day with a concussion. The NHL’s top rookie in 2011 sat out the ‘Canes Monday night loss to the Montreal Canadiens after being hurt in a Feb. 14 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Skinner missed 16 games in 2012 with a concussion.